AP National News

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing back on calls by Uvalde families for new gun control measures in Texas in wake of the Robb Elementary School massacre. Abbott said Wednesday that that raising the minimum age to purchase weapons like the one used in the

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state Senate can keep hundreds of emails and other records related to its partisan review of the 2020 election secret because they are “privileged” and exempt from disclosure under state public records law. The unanimous ruling means the public

By JAMEY KEATEN and EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — China’s discriminatory detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity, the U.N. human rights office said in a long-awaited report Wednesday, which cited “serious” rights violations and patterns of torture in

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — A defense expert says forcibly administering anti-psychotic medication to a man charged with killing three people and wounding eight others in a 2015 attack on a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic probably won’t make him well enough to stand trial and could also harm his health. Dr. George

By JIM SALTER Associated Press St. Louis’ top prosecutor has filed a motion asking a judge to vacate the conviction that sent a man to prison nearly 30 years ago for a murder he has long claimed he didn’t commit. Lamar Johnson was convicted in the 1994 killing of 25-year-old Marcus Boyd in an alleged

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A former chief of patrol for the New York City Police Department will serve temporarily as “consulting Chief of Operations” for the undermanned New Orleans Police Department. New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson announced the hiring of Fausto Pichardo in an email to his officers Wednesday.

By JEFFREY COLLINS COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a woman killed while looking out the window of her South Carolina home was intentionally shot by a neighbor shooting at targets in his yard. Prosecutors have upgraded the charge against 30-year-old Nicholas Lucas to murder. Investigators say crime scene technicians this week determined the fatal

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and SARA BURNETT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan elections board on Wednesday rejected an abortion rights initiative after its two Republican board members voted against putting the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The two Democrats on the Board of State Canvassers voted in favor, but getting the

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Four families have filed a lawsuit against the United States, saying the Navy “harbored toxic secrets” when jet fuel contaminated drinking water for 93,000 military members and civilians in Hawaii. The lawsuit says they continue to suffer maladies such as seizures, gastrointestinal disorders and neurological issues.

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG and LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The water pressure at James Brown’s home in Jackson was so low the faucets barely dripped. He couldn’t cook. He couldn’t bathe. But he still had to work. The 73-year-old tree-cutter hauled bags of ice into his truck at a gas station on

By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — University of North Dakota President Andrew Armacost has apologized for the school’s possession of Native American artifacts and human remains that should have been returned to tribes decades ago under federal law. He says the school is working to repatriate the artifacts and remains to several

By TOM DAVIES Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court has ruled that religious freedom rights protect the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis from being sued by a teacher who was fired from his job at a Catholic high school for being in a same-sex marriage. Joshua Payne-Elliott argued in his lawsuit that

By ZEKE MILLER and CHRIS MEGERIAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — More than two years after he defeated Donald Trump, President Joe Biden has some unfinished business he’s aiming to settle with the restive forces of Trumpism. The president is set to use a primetime address Thursday to frame the upcoming midterm elections as part

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea may conduct a public survey to help determine whether to grant exemptions to mandatory military service to members of the K-pop boyband BTS. The issue of military service for the band’s seven members has been a hot-button topic in South Korea because its

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigation into top-secret government information discovered at Mar-a-Lago is zeroing in on the question of whether former President Donald Trump’s team criminally obstructed the probe. A new document alleges that government records had been concealed and removed and that law enforcement officials were misled about

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States says it has determined that Russia is suffering “severe manpower shortages” in its six-month-old war with Ukraine and that is has become more desperate in its efforts to find new troops to send to the front lines. A U.S. official who spoke on the

By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — A judge rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limousine company involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York. Wednesday’s turnabout drew applause and tears from victims’ relatives and plunged limo company boss

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s governor has signed a new executive order that pledges $10 million to build a clinic that would provide abortions and other pregnancy care. Democrat Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday that “the goal here is build it and they will come.” She said New

By LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writers So many TV shows, so few nominees who will end up with trophies at the Primetime Emmy Awards. A total of 25 Emmys will be presented during the Sept. 12 ceremony in the glamor categories including acting and best comedy, drama and limited series. Past winners